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BOOST: Two men sure to benefit from the IMF scandal are former No. 2 John Lipsky, who will take over at DC headquarters, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy (above), who likely faces one less re-election opponent. Photo: Mark Abraham

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WASHINGTON — The stunning arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the man seen as the frontrunner challenging French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s re-election bid, has thrown that race into turmoil.

Strauss-Kahn, the head of the powerful International Monetary Fund, had not yet declared his candidacy but was widely expected to seek the Socialist Party’s nod in the 2012 race.

Polls showed him with a big lead over the conservative incumbent, Sarkozy, who is seeking a second term in the election next April.

“It’s a cross that will be difficult for him to bear,” said Dominique Paille, a political rival to Strauss-Kahn on the center-right, on French television.

“If it is true, this would be a historic moment, but in the negative sense, for French political life,” Paille said.

The IMF kicked its No. 2 man, American John Lipsky, into Strauss-Kahn’s top spot and its $420,000 annual salary. He met yesterday with members of the group’s board.

In France, Socialist leader Martine Aubry, appealing for party unity, said, “The news we received from New York last night struck like a thunderbolt.”

Strauss-Kahn’s political allies and rivals called for respect for the presumption of innocence.

Christine Boutin, president of the Christian Democrat Party, even suggested Strauss-Kahn may have been set up.

“I think it’s very likely a trap was set for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and he fell into it,” she told French television. “It’s a political bomb for domestic politics.”

There seemed little political fallout in the US, with most DC pols dodging speculation.

New York Rep. Mike Grimm (R-SI), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, which has oversight authority for IMF, said he didn’t think it was necessary to conduct a separate congressional investigation of the sex-crime allegations.

“This is a matter for law enforcement, not Congress,” Grimm said.

But Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a GOP candidate for president, said the arrest of Strauss-Kahn tainted the entire IMF.

“That should awaken everybody to the fact that they ought to look into the IMF and find out why we shouldn’t be sacrificing more sovereignty to an organization like that and an individual like he was,” Paul said on “Fox News Sunday.”